Marilyn Gugliucci co-authors published article on Age-Friendly Universities

Marilyn Gugliucci's article is published in the Gerontology & Geriatrics Education Journal
Marilyn Gugliucci's article is published in the Gerontology & Geriatrics Education Journal

An article on Age Friendly Universities (AFU) co-authored by Marilyn R. Gugliucci, Ph.D., professor and director of Geriatrics Education and Research in UNE’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, was recently published in the Gerontology & Geriatrics Education Journal, the official journal of the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education.

In 2012, Dublin City University established an Age-Friendly Initiative to transform lives and societies though education, research and innovation. This vision led to a global initiative which is now being embraced by colleges and universities worldwide.

The intent of being an Age-Friendly University is to highlight the role that higher education institutions can play in responding to the challenges and opportunities associated with an aging demographic across many societies around the world.

Health professions students and graduates require the knowledge, skills  and attitudes in older adult care that can be enriched and strengthened through interactions with older adults during their higher education years.

AFUs contribute to preparing future health professions providers with improved older adult health care skills which ultimately benefit older adults.

Gugliucci’s co-author is Desmond O’Neil, a geriatrician and professor in Medical Gerontology at Trinity College and Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Tallaght Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.

The article, titled “Health professions education: advancing geriatrics and gerontology competencies through Age- Friendly University Principles,” provides Higher Education Institutions that offer health professions education programs several avenues from which they may select in order to establish and enhance gerontology/geriatrics competence for their students. 

 

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The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.